Festival of Britain

Guide to the Exhibition of Science

The Exhibition of Science at the Science Museum in South Kensington was an important component of the Festival of Britain and provided an ideal platform for the Festival Pattern Group. Over 150 scientists from laboratories all over the country lent their expertise to the project, including leading crystallographers Max Perutz, Dorothy Hodgkin and J D Bernal. Dr Jacob Bronowski, the eminent mathematician and scientific commentator, wrote the text for the Guide.

Cover designed by Abram Games
Published by HMSO

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Festival of Britain

Exhibition of Science

The entrance to the Exhibition of Science was dominated by atomic motifs, including a honeycomb screen designed by Gordon Andrews featuring ball-and-spoke devices. A 180 m ball-and-spoke light fitting based on the atomic structure of carbon was suspended above the main hall. Festival Pattern Group furnishings were used extensively, including screens covered with Afwillite wallpaper and Insulin vynide.

Images: The National Archives

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Festival of Britain

Exhibition of Science map

The Exhibition of Science took place in a newly constructed extension at the Science Museum in South Kensington. Panels of experts representing different branches of science and technology advised on the displays.

Published by HMSO

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Festival of Britain

Cinema Foyer, Exhibition of Science

The Exhibition of Science’s cinema used many Festival Pattern Group furnishings. The interior includes Myoglobin upholstery - designed by Charles Garnier for ICI Leathercloth - on benches, and Insulin wallpaper designed by Robert Sevant for John Line and Sons. John Kendrew and Dorothy Hodgkin were the respective crystallographers.

Image: The National Archives

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Festival of Britain

Cinema and telephone recess, Exhibition of Science

Festival Pattern Group furnishings were chosen for other interiors at the Exhibition of Science as well. Another version of John Kendrew’s myoglobin structure - this time a Mural Rexine wallcovering - adorned the telephone recess.

Images: The National Archives

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Festival of Britain

Regatta Restaurant, South Bank

The Regatta Restaurant sat on the river next to Hungerford Bridge, adjacent to Skylon, the soaring vertical feature. Designed by Misha Black and Alexander Gibson of the Design Research Unit, the Regatta Restaurant was the principal showcase for the Festival Pattern Group. Crystal structure furnishings and accessories were omnipresent. Waitresses at the restaurant wore collars made of Hydrargillite lace, and the same star-shaped motif was emblazoned on the entrance wall.

Continue to see more images of the Regatta Restaurant.

Image: The National Archives

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Festival of Britain

Regatta Restaurant

In the restaurant, John Line’s Insulin and Afwillite wallpapers were used as accent features. Templeton’s Resorcinol carpet, as seen in the next image, enlivened the floors.

Image: ‘The Souvenir Book of Crystal Designs’, 1951
Published by London Typographical Designers for the Council of Industrial Design/HMSO

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Festival of Britain

Resorcinol 8.17 carpet

Resorcinol machine-woven wool carpet, produced in two colourways, was used extensively in the Regatta Restaurant. Resorcinol is an organic compound, which crystallises from benzene, widely used as an antiseptic and disinfectant.

Crystallographer: John Monteath Robertson
Designed by Robert Anderson for James Templeton
Image: V&A Images/Victoria and Albert Museum

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Festival of Britain

Hydrargillite 8.33 menu

Hydrargillite was one of the first minerals that Helen Megaw analysed during the 1930s. This menu, made from printed linen trimmed with lace, was used at the Regatta Restaurant.

Crystallographer: Helen Megaw
Menu designed by London Typographical Designers
Lace designed by H Webster for A C Gill
Image: V&A Images/Victoria and Albert Museum

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